Jamie Donaldson’s past visits to Prague may have been of a jovial nature, but the Welshman has some serious business to attend to in the Czech capital this week at the D+D REAL Czech Masters.
The 38 year old is clinging to one of the nine automatic places in Europe’s Ryder Cup side, but with two weeks of the qualifying race to go and the likes of Luke Donald and Ian Poulter hot on his heels, Donaldson knows a good performance can secure a debut at Gleneagles next month.
The two-time European Tour winner has previously visited Prague on stag weekends, but Donaldson is keen to enjoy the quality of his golf above all else at Albatross Golf Resort.
“Things are quite close with The Ryder Cup spots but I just have to take each week at a time,” he said.
“There are two events left and I have to go out here this week and play well, play to win the tournament as I do every week.
“I need to enjoy myself and play well. It’s in the back of your mind but these things can help you.
“It’s a great target to have and it’s been a target for me for quite a while. You just need to ignore it and get on with the things that make you play well and keep doing those things to enable you to have the best week you can.
“It’s hard to get in the team, whether you were in the list for a while or you’re fighting to get in, it’s difficult whatever angle you’re going at it. You’re playing against the best players in Europe so it’s never going to be easy.
“You’ve just got to keep playing well all year and it’s as simple as that. I’ve had a nice week at home and here we are, playing another event so I'm pretty fresh and looking forward to it.”
“I'm sure it will be a great event here too. Prague’s a beautiful city; I've been here a couple of times at stag parties and things and played a little bit of golf here so it’s really nice to be back.
“My brother’s stag was here and I was best man at his wedding, but it’s a beautiful city - one of the most beautiful cities I've seen - so it’s always great to come back. There are a lot of really nice restaurants and the course looks really good so I'm looking forward to it.”
Donaldson expects the conditions to be a factor, with any breeze likely to prove the courses main defence.
“The course is quite exposed so there’ll be a lot of wind, I'm sure,” he added. “It looks all set for a great week. The fairways are quite generous so I’ll play again in the Pro-Am and assess my game plan from there.
“It’s going to be a low score to win this week so there’ll be an emphasis on holing a lot of putts and that’s what I’ll have to do.”
